Sunday, 25 October 2015

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Brunei and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Bandar Seri Bagawan was known in English as Bandar Brunei or Brunei Town. At the abdication of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III in 1967, his eldest son Hassanal Bolkiah succeeded him and later renamed the city Begawan to honour his father as it was used to mean 'abdicated' when referring to former monarchs, it coming from the Sanskrit word for 'god'. It should also be noted that Seri Begawan means 'blessed one', the Sanskrit seri easily seen as related to the honorific sri. The word bandar has come down from the Persian tongue and originally meant 'harbour, port, haven', and is also found in Malay where it means 'town, city'.

Sengkurong is traditionally said to be 'the people of Kurong'. This is supported by the Bengkurong meaning 'the Kurong River'. Both seem to suggest this area was once known as Kurong, although there are no surviving records to support this. However it would make sense as kurong also means 'enclosed' and the meandering river could easily be said to have enclosed an area, particularly during times of flood.

Sungai Nagalang is a river named from the Murut galang or 'circular bracelet' and a description of its meandering course.

Sungair Peliunan is a second river, again describing its course in lium or 'to circle around'.

Sungai Batu Apoi is a third river name, this time named for a local feature and meaning 'fiery rock'. Unlike the previous two the rock is no longer visible, for traditional tells of how this rock, it making the whole area quite uninhabitable, was encountered by a great hero. He took one look at the offending rock and, with his great strength, launched it into the sea thus making the area perfect for the village.

Tutong has many explanations, most often said to be the word for 'turtle'.

Bukit Ambok is a hill near the town of Tutong. While the true origin is uncertain, there are two conflicting suggestions as to its origin. Either this represents ambok from Malay and thus understood as 'monkey hill', or is from a fruit known as 'cat's eyes' growing on the ambug trees which once dominated this hill.

Lamunin refers to fauna not flora. This is from lat munin or 'fox hill'.

Merimbun has two conflicting but equally interesting explanations. It is said a man named Imbun had been hunting when he stumbled upon the place. Finding the forest alive with game and the lake teeming with fish he decided to bring his family here to settle permanently. When others of his village followed, they named it to honour the man who had made their lives so much easier. The second also suggests Merimbun had been named after an individual, this time the story involves a trader from China who brought so much prosperity they named it after him, his name being Eng Boon.

Bukit Udal also speaks of an early event giving it a name. Folklore speaks of a great flood, the rising waters forcing men, women and children to seek higher ground. Naturally the animals, birds and insects did the same to wait it out. However so many mouths crowded in a small area soon meant there was nothing left to eat, all the vegetation had been stripped and giving it its name of 'bald hill'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Sunday, 18 October 2015

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Brazil and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Brasilia has a population of just over two million, making it the fourth largest in the country. It was a planned city dating from the 1950s and clearly named from the country, the latter from the tree brazilwood which once proliferated along the Atlantic coast. This is from the Latin brasa il meaning 'red like an ember', a reference to the deep red dye obtained from these trees.

Rio de Janeiro is the best known place in the country but is neither the capital and is only the second-largest city. Originally known as Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro to honour St Sebastian, the patron of the then Portuguese monarch, with the addition from the river on which it stands, both can be defined as 'January river'.

Sao Paulo is by far the largest city in the country, unsurprisingly the Portuguese for 'Saint Paul',

Salvador is an abbreviation of the original name Sao Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos or 'Holy Saviour of the Bay of All Saints'.

Fortazela is the Portuguese word for 'fortress', not the original name but coined when settlement began in 1603 and the fort constructed under the orders of Pero Coelho de Souza. That fort was named Fort of Sao Tiago and the settlement initially known as Nova Lisboa 'New Lisbon'.

Belo Horizonte is another Portuguese name, delightfully referring to the 'beautiful horizon'. This name was coined in 1906, there having been several names since the initial period of settlement in 1701, and named during a period of extensive industrialisation.

Manaus is after the people indigenous to this region, the Manaos. When first elevated to city status in 1832, it became known as Cidade de Barra do Rio Negro or 'the city of the margins of the black river' but reverted to its present name in 1848.

Curitiba is said to come from the Tupi kuri tyba or 'many pine seeds', this attributed to the numerous pine cones found in the area when Europeans first landed, these from the Parana pines native to the region. Alternatively the same Tupi tongue may be interpreted as kurit yba or 'a lot of pine trees'.

Recife is first recorded as a small port - a collection of shacks, inns and warehousing - and described as arrecife dos navios 'the reef of ships'. Today the recife or 'reef' running parallel to the shore forms a natural harbour. However this is not the coral reef often said to be here, this reef is a beach from pre-history which has now solidified into stone.

Porto Alegre is simply Portuguese for 'the joyful harbour'.

Belem is the Portuguese word for 'Bethlehem'.

Goiania is a planned city and named in 1933 following a contest held by the local newspaper. Suggestions included Petronia, Americana, Petrolandia, Goianopolis, Bartolomeu Bueno, Campanha, Eldorado, Anhanguera, Liberdade, Patria Nova, Goianopolis as well as Goiania. This is based on the state and city name of Goias, itself from the indigenous people whose name seems to come from gua e ia, literally 'the same person' but understood as 'people of the same origin'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Botswana and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Gaborone quite literally speaks of ‘it does not fit badly’, although some interpret it as ‘it is not unbecoming’, both of which sound very much back-handed compliments to me. This is from Chief Gaborone of the BaTlokwa, this village now called Tlokweng.

Francistown is clearly named after someone named ‘Francis’. That someone being Daniel Francis, a prospector from Liverpool in England who obtained mining licenses for this area and ostensibly founded Botwana’s second largest settlement in 1869.

Molepolole claims to be one of the largest traditional villages on the African continent, with a population nearing 70,000. It is named after the Molepolole river, the meaning of which is uncertain but probably simplistic and referring to the wetland.

Maun is a similar name and one where the origins are known. This is from maung, a Seyei word meaning ‘place of the river reeds’.

Lensweletau is a name referring to this as ‘the lion at the rocky hill’.

Molpowabojang is not only a place name but the river name, hence this is why the name means ‘river grass’

Seleka is the Sango word for ‘coalition’, a political alliance formed as recently as 2012.

Tsetsebjwe comes from the hill of the same name. Formerly known as Mokgojwe, from the local spring, it changed to its present name when a man called Tsetsebjwe died here when poachers from neighbouring South Africa were after game in the 19th century.

Hukuntsi means ‘many corners’ in the local tongue.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Sunday, 4 October 2015

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Bosnia and Herzegovina and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names.

Sarajevo is the capital and by far the largest city. Its name comes from Turkish saray and a later Turkish loanword evo and together refer to 'the plains around the palace'. Thus we can infer the original place, and thus the name, referred solely to the palace, with the present form coming some centuries later.

Banja Luka is quite recent, at least as far as place names go, being first seen in a document dating from 1494. Traditionally this is defined as from ban luka or 'meadow of the dignitary' and yet without any indication of the location of the meadow or, more importantly, any hint as to the identity of the dignitary. The popularity of this definition has tended to overshadow more likely origins, including banja 'bath or spa' with luka 'port'; bajna luka 'the marvellous port'; or from Hungarian Lukacsbanya 'Luke's mine'. Note the locals spelling is as two words while generally the form is to give this as Banjaluci.

Tuzla is certainly linked to a mine, this for this is the Ottoman Turkish word specifically referring to a 'salt mine' and the extensive and valuable salt deposits found beneath the city.

Mostar is named after the mostari, the 'bridge keepers' who guarded the medieval bridge over the Neretva. Built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, it is arguably the nation's most recognizable landmarks.

Prnjavor is said to be of medieval origins when the monasteries here had landed properties known as Prnjavori. This subsequently gave the locals the name of Prnjavorci and the modern town became Prnjavor.

Tomislavgrad is quite literally 'Tomislav town' and known as such since 1928 when King Alexander I of Yugoslavia suggested this a fitting tribute to his son Prince Tomislav and King Tomislav of Croatia. Previously this had been Duvno, this making a comeback from the end of the Second World War until the 1990s and is still known as such by some locals. This original name, also seen as Duvnjaci, is a reference to the Duvniak people who once inhabited this region.

Siroki Brijeg is named after a topgraphical feature and means 'the wide hill', although locals tend to abbreviate it to simply Siroki 'the wide'. Briefly, from 1945 to 1990, this had been renamed after another local feature, the Listica river.

Modrica is thought to be named as it could be found near 'the small river with blue mountain water', this thought to be the Dusa.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.